Flareholder

ABSTRACT

A rigid holder to releasably support typical nail-based flares on a flat surface such as a roadway. The support provides a handle for manual manipulation to allow transport and disposition of hot flares established in the holder.

United States Patent n is e E gl h S pt 16, 1975 F LAREHOLDER [56] References Cited [76] inventor: Hugh James English, Apt. 8, W. 27 UNITED STATES PATENTS Central Ave., Spokane, Wash. 3,499,413 3/ 1970 Heard ll6/63 99208 3,574,498 4/1971 Zarinsky 431/126 [22] Filed: 1972 Primary ExaminerEvon C. Blunk [21] Appl. No.: 214,693 Assistant Examiner.lohnny D. Cherry 57 ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. 116/63 P; 40/125 N; 248/39 51 Int. Cl EOlf 9/10 A holder releasably SUPP typlcal nall'based [58] Field of Search. 294/1 R 27 H 86 H, flares on a flat surface such as a roadway. The support 40/125 N; 94/15; lO2/37.4; 116/6.3 R, 6.3 P, DIG. 40; 248/27.8, 38, 39, 44, 310, 346; 431/295, 126; 240/13, 52.3

provides a handle for manual manipulation to allow transport and disposition of hot flares established in the holder.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Pm'rm SEP 1 EYE FIGURE 4 FIGURE 5 22 FIGURE 3 FLAREHOLDER BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1A. Related Applications There are no prior applications related hereto filed in this or any foreign country.

1B. Field of Invention This invention relates generally to holders for combustible flares and more particularly to a holder to support nail-based flares on a flat surface.

1C. Description of Prior Art Heretofore combustible flares such as those containing a thermite mixture have become an important signaling device in the regulation of vehicular traffic, particularly to indicate emergency situations. The flares commonly comprise a combustible supporting cylinder, several inches in length and approximating threequarters of an inch in diameter, containing a combustible, quite commonly a thermite, mixture. One end of the cylinder has provision for ignition and the other structurally carries a nail or spike of some two or three inches in length to allow fastening of the device during use. When the flares are to be used the user will quite commonly not be able to manually hold them and if he were able to do so the practice would be dangerous because of the thermal activities involved.

With the advent of modern multiple lane highways of concrete construction, wide expanse and surfaced shoulders, it is becoming increasingly difficult to position flares just where desired at an accident scene. In present day road construction there are no asphaltic expansion joints in the concrete. Commonly it is not effective to place the flares at the side of a road and in many cases this is not possible because the sides are paved or in some fashion prevent flare fixation by means of the nail-base. Commonly pieces of some soft material of appropriate size that might support the flare on a flat surface are not available and if they are such pieces are quite commonly combustible and may be ignited by the flare.

With these thoughts in mind the instant invention was created to provide a non-combustible base to releasably accept nail-base flares and support a plurality of them during use. The support provides a handle which allows transport or placement of the device when carrying hot or ignited flares.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention generally provides a flare-holder having a flat planar base element with the upwardly projecting medial portion formed as the surface of a relatively flat truncated pyramid. Each of the sides of the pyramid contains a medial hole to accept and releasably support the nail-base of a commercial flare. The base element is provided with a pivotably mounted handle that may be extended outwardly for use and inwardly for compact storage. The base element is formed preferably from sheet metal and may be conveniently configured by pressing.

In providing such a structure it is:

A principal object of my invention to provide a holder for a nail-base flare that will releasably support a plurality of flares in operative position on a planar surface of a roadway.

A further object of my invention to provide such a holder that may be manually manipulated during flare use or while holding hot flare elements.

A still further object of my invention to provide such a device that is of a compact nature to allow convenient use in automobiles such as by highway patrolmen.

A still further object of my invention to provide such a flare holder that is of new and novel design, of rugged and durable nature, of simple and economic manufacture and otherwise well adapted to the uses and purposes for which it is intended.

Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following specification and accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification. In carrying out the objects of my invention, however, it is to be remembered that its accidental features are susceptible of change in design and structural arrangement with only one preferred and practical embodiment being illustrated in the accompanying drawings as required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and wherein like numbers of reference refer to similar parts throughout:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of my flareholder with four typical nail-base flares of commerce in position therein.

FIG. 2 is an orthographic side-view of the flareholder of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an orthographic top-view of the flareholder of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view taken through the handle element to show its pivotal mounting, such as on a line 44 of FIG. 2 in the direction indicated by the arrows thereon.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the flareholder of FIG. 3, taken on the line 5-5 thereon in the direction indicated by the arrows, to show the shelltype structure and configuration of the body of my invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in more detail and particularly to that of FIG. 1, it will be seen that my invention generally comprises planar base element 10 supporting medial pyramidal body 11 carrying plural flares l3 and providing pivotably mounted handle member 12 to aid in manipulation of the device.

Flares 13 comprise cylindrical supportative body 14 carrying a combustible, light emiting, compound such as thermite. One end 15 of the body provides means for igniting the flare and the other provides means for support during use, in this instance the substantially axially aligned, outwardly projecting nail element 17. Such flares are common items of commerce in the present day and their configuration by different manufacturers is reasonably standardized.

Base 10 provides sheet-like element 18 with a planar annular peripheral area of some few inches in dimension and preferably having rounded corners 19 to make use more convenient and the base less damaging to its surrounding environs. Preferably this member is formed of metal such as a reasonably heavy guage of sheet steel to provide appropriate rigidity and mass for stability. Middle supporting body 11 in this instance provides four similar pyramidal side elements 20 joined in the upper portion by truncating surface 21. Each element is structurally joined to the other at communicating edges and the side elements are joined by their bases to base element 10. Plural holes 22 are provided, one in the medial portion of each side element 20, to receive nail 17 of flares 13.

Preferably the holes are very nearly the same size as the external diameter of the nail so that a flare is supported substantially coaxially with the hole but yet may be readily positioned. This member, again, is preferably formed from metal and generally sheet steel of the same nature as the base.

Obviously both base and supporting body may be formed by pressing from a single piece of rigid sheet steel. This material is preferable because of its durable nature, substantial mass, and incombustibility. Undoubtedly, other materials might serve this purpose but probably not so well.

Handle member 12 provides U-shaped bracket 23, structurally joined to base 10, preferably at a corner as illustrated in FIG. 1, having paired opposed holes 24 to pivotably receive rivet 25 communicating through elongate handle element 26 to pivotably mount the handle in the bracket and thusly upon the base. The outer portion of handle element 26 preferably carries a somewhat enlarged insulated gripping element 27 to aid in the manual manipulation of the holder. Since the device may become heated by associated flares, the gripping element preferably provides thermal insulation from the handle supporting element to allow comfortable use; normally this handle member will be formed of insulating plastic or rubber. The entire handle member should be configured to have a length gen erally not greater than that of the diagonal of the base element so that the handle during non-use may be folded back inwardly over the base element to provide a more compact, unified volume for storage. The outwardextension of the handle is necessarily limited by the body portion of the U-shaped supporting bracket so that the handle will not move angularly outward more than about 45 with reference to the base element to allow the member to be conveniently picked up by the handle during use. With positioning of the handle at a corner it is to be noted that it will be about as far away from the buring part of any flare as it is possible to get and yet maintain attachment with the holder. Obviously, however, the handle element should be of sufficient length so that during manipulation the hand of a user is not immediately adjacent the burning part of the flares.

Having thusly described my invention, its operation may be understood.

Firstly a flareholder is formed as specified. To use the device, one or more flares, as described, are manually positioned as illustrated in FIG. 1 and after positioning they are ignited in the normal fashion. The device may then be manipulated by the handle to place it where desired upon any reasonably flat supporting surface. The weight of the holder will maintain the flares on the supporting surface until their use is no longer required. After use the device may again be manipulated by the handle and removed to a place of flare disposal, whereat the flares may be disposed of, by manually manipulating the holder to move it to an upside-down position to allow the flares to fall from the holder by force of gravity.

It is to be noted particularly that the flareholder may be used upon any flat or flat-sloping surface and is maintained in position by friction of its own weight between the flareholder and supporting surface. This type of device is particularly adaptable for use upon concrete highways which in present day practice generally have no place to drive the base nail of a flare.

It is further to be noted that in instances where a nailbase type flare is supported by means of the nail, there generally is no provision for moving the flare after it has burned out. The remainder of the flare is then quite hot and cannot be manually manipulated without some type of a too]. With the use of my device, however, the flare is carried in the holder to a place of flare disposal, and thereafter manipulated by aid of the holder.

It is further to be noted that one or a plurality of flares may be used with the holder. The particular holder illustrated is a pyramid with four side elements, each for support of a flare, but obviously this number might be increased or decreased if desired and obviously some or all of the flare supporting holes may be used.

The foregoing description of my invention is necessarily of a detailed nature so that a specific embodiment of it might be set forth as required, but it is to be understood that various modifications of detail, rearrangement and multiplication of parts might be resorted to without departing from its spirit, essence, or

scope.

Having thusly described my invention, what I desire to protect by Letters Patent, and what I claim is:

l. A flareholder for holding a thermally luminescent flare having an elongate cylindrical body supporting a substantially axially alinged nail in its base, comprising, in combination:

a base member having a planar peripheral area structurally communicating with;

a medial, upwardly projecting supporting body hav ing at least one hole normally aligned to releasably receive the nail of a nail-base type flare and support the flare substantially normally to the upwardly projecting supporting body; said supporting body comprising a truncated pyramid having a flare nail hole normally aligned in the medial part of each pyramid face; and

handle means associated with the base providing a pivotably mounted handle to aid manual manipulation thereof.

2. A flareholder for holding a thermally luminescent flare having an elongate cylindrical body supporting a substantially axially aligned nail in its base, comprising, in combination:

a base member having a planar peripheral area structurally communicating with; j

a medial, upwardly projecting supporting body having at least one hold normally aligned to releasably receive the nail of a nail-base type flare and support the flare substantially normally to the upwardly projecting supporting body; and

handle means associated with the base providing a U-shaped bracket mounted inwardly adjacent one corner of the base element with the body of the U projecting peripherally outward,

paired, opposed, cooperating holes in the legs of the U-shaped bracket carrying,

a rivet pivotably extending therethrough; and

an elongate handle element pivotably mounted on the medial part of the rivet betweenbracket legs to allow pivotable motion inwardly and to a limited degree outwardly to an angle of about 45. 

1. A flareholder for holding a thermally luminescent flare having an elongate cylindrical body supporting a substantially axially alinged nail in its base, comprising, in combination: a base member having a planar peripheral area structurally communicating with; a medial, upwardly projecting supporting body having at least one hole normally aligned to releasably receive the nail of a nail-base type flare and support the flare substantially normally to the upwardly projecting supporting body; said supporting body comprising a truncated pyramid having a flare nail hole normally aligned in the medial part of each pyramid face; and handle means associated with the base providing a pivotably mounted handle to aid manual manipulation thereof.
 2. A flareholder for holding a thermally luminescent flare having an elongate cylindrical body supporting a substantially axially aligned nail in its base, comprising, in combination: a base member having a planar peripheral area structurally communicating with; a medial, upwardly projecting supporting body having at least one hold normally aligned to releasably receive the nail of a nail-base type flare and support the flare substantially normally to the upwardly projecting supporting body; and handle means associated with the base providing a U-shaped bracket mounted inwardly adjacent one corner of the base element with the body of the ''''U'''' projecting peripherally outward, paired, opposed, cooperating holes in the legs of the U-shaped bracket carrying, a rivet pivotably extending therethrough; and an elongate handle element pivotably mounted on the medial part of the rivet between bracket legs to allow pivotable motion inwardly and to a limited degree outwardly to an angle of about 45*. 